Preliminary Screening on Components Selection Of A Quercetin- Loaded Self-Nanoemulsifying Drug Delivery System Formulation

Abstract

Quercetin has been reported as a group of flavonoids with high antioxidant activity but with poor solubility, thus requiring modification to enhance its bioavailability. Self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system (SNEDDS) is able to facilitate solubility improvement for non-polar entities. An isotropic mixture of oil, surfactant, and co-surfactant is required to ensure the formation and stability of SNEDDS. Therefore, the selection of these SNEDDS components is crucial. This study focused on the preliminary screening to appropriately select the oil, surfactant, and co- surfactant used for a quercetin-containing SNEEDS formulation. To highlight the nanoemulsion regions, pseudo-ternary phase diagrams of selected oil and s-mix were visualized. In addition, the evaluations include % transmittance, self-emulsification time, droplet size, PDI, zeta potential, and thermodynamic stability.